The Rapid Rise of Smartphones & Tablets in the Legal Arena

The American Bar Association’s 2013 Tech Survey Report just came out, and the numbers are staggering — 91 percent of all lawyers are using Smartphones, and 48 percent are using tablets.  These figures reflect the importance of remaining mobile and connected in what is now the digital, wireless age — but going wireless can be overwhelming.  Thankfully, ABAnow.org published “The Latest iPhone and iPad Apps to Help Lawyers Work More Efficiently,” while the American Bar Association published “Essential Android Apps for Busy Lawyers” to help firms and solo practitioners alike navigate the apps maze.

With these findings, chances are you and your staff are using at least one, if not more, mobile devices and apps to do business wherever you are.  Lexis-Nexis celebrated this never-ending practice of law on their website with the announcement that:

Down time is dead – Long Live Mobility!

But along with mobility come threats to confidential information.  These threats came to the forefront when China-based hackers targeted law firms last year and, while IT budgets are increasing steadily, the safety of each device used, whether owned by the firm or individual, is only now being addressed.  Nothing is unhackable, and no one is infallible.  Anyone could lose a phone or have their pocket(book) picked at any time.  Reliable remote find and wipe apps should be loaded onto mobile devices upon purchase and not a single phone call or e-mail returned until IT has secured your device(s). Constantly backing up throughout the course of the day to a secure cloud is a great idea, but never use a shared network to do so.

Mobility is changing the way lawyers do business, eliminating downtime, and translating more of every day into billable hours, which may seem like a good thing, but as Jim Calloway of the Oklahoma Bar Association wrote way back in 2003:  “It’s important to know when to hit the off switch.”  Stress-induced illness can knock a lawyer not only off his/her feet, but it can also knock a top-notch litigator completely out of the arena, so use your devices wisely, and pay attention to both their charge, as well as yours.